Justin Rose's roller coaster ride

Posted: Sat Apr 12 6:07 PM

By Gerard Gallagher, Golf Editor

Augusta, GA (Sports Network) - Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. Then they got better, then worse again, then better again.

Justin Rose's 73 at the Masters on Saturday wasn't a round of golf -- it was a thrill ride.

"It's just been hard to really grind it out," said Rose.

And no one should know that better than him. After shooting a 68 on Thursday and holding at least a piece of the first-round Masters lead for the third time in five years, Rose stumbled to a 78 on Friday.

His second round included a triple-bogey at the par-five 15th hole, and the 27-year-old Englishman said he was "thoroughly delighted to get back" to his house Friday night.

"Yesterday was a funny round. I hit every fairway, technically everything was in perfect shape. But obviously there was just a lack of slight mental adjustment over those two days," Rose said. "Really, the game didn't go anywhere overnight, it's obviously I just struggled to sort of frame it up right in my mind, I suppose."

He had two three-putt bogeys in his first six holes on Saturday, when a 40- minute weather delay interrupted the early third-round groups and left behind better scoring conditions at Augusta National.

Rose then birdie the par-four ninth -- his first birdie since the first round -- but a bogey at the 10th followed. And so did a bigger number at the 11th, where Rose hit into the water and walked off with a double-bogey.

That put him at four-over par for the round, and plus-six overall.

"The thing is, I'd never hit it in the water there if I was five-under for a tournament. When you're five-over for the tournament, and you start going at pins that you probably shouldn't be going at, you know, sometimes that's what this course does to you," Rose said of the 11th.

"When you press on this golf course, it just seems to get further and further away from you."

But Rose regrouped with three birdies in his last four holes, salvaging a one- over 73 with his best golf since stringing together six birdies in an eight- hole stretch on Thursday.

Suddenly, he was up again.

"I was just trying to work my way back into a position where you could say, well, it wasn't really too bad a week or whatever," said Rose, who was at three-over-par 219.

Rose also said he thought Augusta was playing easy.

"Obviously the greens softened up a touch, [and] I thought the pins for Saturday were accessible," said Rose. "So I thought if you played well out there, I think there is a score. Which is kind of a good thing, I think.

"It's nice that if some guys can come from behind and catch up a bit on the leader, obviously it condenses the pack a little bit and makes it exciting for Sunday." Sunday."

Hard to believe he's looking for any more excitement.